(1)  John Ball, born about 1585 in England and came to America between 1630 and 1640.  He died 1 October 1655 in Concord, Massachusetts.  He settled in Watertown, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, where he was made freeman 22 May 1650 and later moved to Concord where he lived with his son Nathaniel until his death in 1655. John Ball is reported to be the son of William Ball of Wiltshire, England, whose six sons emigrated to New England. If this was the case, no proof can be found to support the report. In the scanty records no mention is made of his wife (by some authorities his wife was Joanna King). It is thought that she did not come to this country and had probably died before embarkation. The records show only two children, sons John and Nathaniel, although there may have been others.
        John's son John Ball later removed to Lancaster, a town on the western frontier at the time of King Phillip's War. It was originally called Nashaway Plantation when Sholan, sachem of the Nashaway Indians, deeded an 8 by 10 mile tract to Henry Symonds and Thomas King. Sholan offered to sell this tract, which is 35 to 40 miles west northwest of Boston, if King and Symonds would build a trucking house on the land and trade with the Indians. The General Court confirmed the deed, and the trucking house was built in 1642 on the southeast side of George Hill.
        Three men were sent out to occupy the land and take care of the trucking house. These men were Lawrence Waters, Richard Linton, and John Ball. The first two built houses and settled with their families, but John Ball disappeared from the records. He evidently moved back to Watertown and was possibly the John Ball who died in Concord in 1655, although it was more likely his son John.
        A petition to incorporate Nashaway Plantation as a town was sent to the General Court. The people wished the place to be called Prescott, after John Prescott who went there in 1647, but the Court gave it the name West Towne. The petitioners were unhappy with the name and petitioned for the name of Lancaster, which was approved; thus Lancaster became a town in 1653. John Ball's son John was an inhabitant of Lancaster and played a part in its history.
        The inventory of John Ball's estate was taken on 6 October 1655 and totaled 30.6.10.

Children:

1. John, mentioned below
2. Nathaniel, born about 1625, settled in Concord, Massachusetts.  Father of Ebenezer, Eleazer, John, and Nathaniel Ball.

        (2)  John Ball, born about 1620 in England, died in Lancaster, Massachusetts, 10 February 1675/1676; married first  Elizabeth Peirce, born in England, died probably about 1664; married second on 3 October 1665 in Watertown, Middlesex Co,, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Fox, died 10 February 1675/1676 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
        John Ball was a tailor. His first wife, Elizabeth Peirce, by whom he had four children, was insane in 1660 and probably had been for some time. In March of 1660/1661 John Ball resigned his three children to his father and mother "Peirse" as their own and gave them two oxen and two cows. He also yielded his wife to his in-laws and the use of his house and lands as long as she continued there, and if God took her before she returned to him, the said was property to be his children's by his said wife, Elizabeth.  The deed wasn't recorded until 31 October 1664, which makes it likely that Elizabeth probably died shortly before that date.
        Selectmen's records show that John and Elizabeth were still together in 1657, as evidenced by Abigail's birth in 1658, but were unable to care for the children:

8 December 1656 --

"Ordered yt John Baall be warned to the next towne meeting to make known his condicion".

11 December 1656 Selectmen's meeting --

"John Baall appearing, it is ordered yt Capt Masan is to Joyne wth Brother Baall in putting forth two of his children to Brother Pearce, as allso one other child to such as may be thought fitt to take the same".

3 January 1656/1657 --

"Richard Gale, have covenanted to take, the daughter of John Baall, Saraih Baall abought the age of 2 yeares, in consideration thearof, the sd Gale is to have the child for fower yeares, & the sd Ball is to find the sd Sarah necessary cloathing for 3 yeares of the sd 4 ...".

3 January 1656/1657 --

"These are to testifye, yt John Baall wth the consent of the selct men, hath putt two of his children as apprentices unto John pearce Senior untill ye come to the age as the law pvides, yt is to say, John the son of John Baall, untill he come, to the age of 21 yeares, in wch time the sd John pearce, is to find him sufficiency of meate drinke & cloathes, & the above named John Baall is to obey all those lawfull comands given by the sd John pearce & his wife, at the end of his tearme, John pearce is to give John Baall, a Loome fitted to fall to worke, and double apparrell, wth the trade of weaving, he is all to instruct him, & to learne him to read the English tongue, & to teach him & instruct him in the knowledge of God, & concerning the other child wch is a maide child of the age of 5 yeares, she is to be as an apprentice, untill she come to the age of eighteene yeares, except the sd John pearce & his wife dept this world before the time pfixed, that then the sd Marie shall be free, but if they all live then the sd Marie is to rece of the sd John pearce her granfather or grandmother, a bible & double apparrell, & in the time of her appentishipe she is to be brought up to reade the english tongue, & instructed in the knowleg of God".

3 February 1656/1657 --

"It is ordered yt Capt. Masan wth our Brother Bearsto doe goe to Sister Baall, and there to acquaint her yt it is the mind of the Select men, yt she sett her selfe to the Carding of two Skaines of Cotton or sheeps wooll & her daughter to spin it, wth other Business of the family & this to be her daily taske, the wch is she refuse, she must expect, to be sent to the howse of corection". There is no explanation of the order or what is to become of the wool, but it seems a bit harsh to send her to jail if she ignored the order. While this "Sister Baall" could be John's mother, it was probably his wife. Perhaps the work was to be done to help pay for the care of her children placed in other families.

20 September 1658 --

It was agreed that Joseph Morse would take the three year old child of John Ball for a term of two years, Esther Ball,  neice of Joseph Morse who had married Esther Peirce, the sister of John Ball's wife. John signed the agreement by mark and Joseph signed his name. At the same time another child, Abigail, one half year of age, was placed with Anthony White for one year.

        John Ball's second marriage was on 3 October 1665 to Elizabeth Fox, possibly the daughter of Thomas Fox of Concord. On 21 October 1665 John sold to William Perry his farm in Watertown, which he had purchased from John Lawrence, and went to Lancaster. It is not known if the children lived with their father after his second marriage or not. Their grandfather John Peirce had died in 1661 and thier grandmother died shortly after. In any event, they luckily were not at John's house in Lancaster in 1676.
        The town of Lancaster was destroyed by Indian attack on 10 February 1675/1676 at the height of King Phillip's War. Sholan had invited the English to the area and was their staunch friend. After his death, his nephew Matthew continued the friendship, but Matthew's successor Shosanin apparently saw things a little differnetly. He was enlisted in Phillip's cause to exterminate the colonists.
        As a frontier town, Lancaster had no settlement between it and the Connecticut River. Groton was 15 miles to the north and Stow and Marlborough were on the east and south, respectively, making it a good candidate for attack. The townspeople had made some preparations for trouble during the Indian War. Four or five of the houses had been designated as garrisons. These were centrally located buildings that had been fortified. One of these garrisons was the house of Rev. Joseph Rowlandson, the minister of the town. The town was clearly fearful of the Indians and on the 10th of February, Rev. Rowlandson and two others were in Boston trying to get the General Court to send soldiers for the defense of the town.
        On the morning of February 10th, 1500 Indians are said to have attacked the town in five different places at once. The Rowlandson garrison came under strong attack and was the only garrison overrun. Mary Rowlandson, wife of the minister, was taken prisoner and some weeks later ransomed back to her family. She wrote a fascinating account of this period in The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. In it she writes, "Quickly it was the dolefullest day that ever mine eyes saw." After some hours and several attempts, the garrison was finally set on fire with forty-two people inside. Many were shot or tomahawked as they tried to escape the flames. Those women and children who got out alive were herded off into the woods to be later sold for ransom if they did not die from their wounds or were killed for traveling too slowly.
        Very early in the attack a house was overrun by the Indians before the inhabitants could escape to the garrison. "There were five persons taken in one house. The father and the mother and a sucking child they knocked on the head; the other two they took and carried away alive." This was the family of a tailor named John Ball. John Ball's estate was administered by his son John of Watertown 1 February 1677/1678. The Ball homestead and the Rowlandson garrison were in the south part of Lancaster. John's lands were never described in the town's Book of Lands although he was one of the first inhabitants. His lands were sold in 1682 to Thomas Harris.